As he was led by a waiter to the hotel's banquet hall, Su Yi noticed there weren't many tables of guests.
Although there weren't many people, judging by everyone's attire and demeanor, it was clear that those invited were mostly not ordinary people; perhaps aside from some relatives of the Lin family, most of the guests were prominent figures in Modu.
"I heard Brother Su has been making a killing in the stock market again recently!"
As Su Yi had just sat down as arranged by Lin Minghui, Deng Youwei, who was familiar with him and sitting beside him, said with a smile.
"Thanks to the strong market rebound after the National Day holiday, I've just made a little bit."
Su Yi glanced around at the full table of guests, seeing that besides Mr. Deng, Mr. Lei and Mr. Lu, whom he had previously met, were also present, and he responded with a smile,
"But compared to the physical businesses in the hands of Mr. Deng, Mr. Lu, Mr. Lei... all you big bosses in Modu's business world, the small profits I churn out in the stock market are nothing at all."
"Brother Su, you're too humble,"
Lei Kaishan said with a laugh.
"Although Brother Su is just one person, your individual earning capability can already rival that of a listed company. Among the current A-share listed companies, those with an annual net profit exceeding 100 million yuan should not be many, but as far as I know, the money Brother Su has made in the stock market this year... that's far more than 100 million yuan."
Su Yi said,
"It's still different. Money earned in the financial market, as long as it's not truly withdrawn, remains merely floating profit. It might seem like some money has been made now, but who knows... another stock market crash could follow, or if market conditions worsen slightly, it could all be given back. However, the money earned by you bosses through physical enterprises, that's real cash in your pockets."
"Actually, running a business and speculating in stocks are not that different,"
Lu Houde replied.
"Both involve independent operations, responsible for one's own profits and losses. Whether you make money or lose money... ultimately, you have to bear it yourself."
"That's right,"
Deng Youwei nodded slightly.
"How's Mr. Lu's company doing lately?"
Lu Houde sighed lightly and said,
"Don't even mention it. Ever since regulators banned off-exchange margin financing from connecting to brokerage trading accounts, business has been getting worse and worse.
Our company is now transitioning to provide margin trading services for other financial products, but to successfully transition and restore business volume to its previous state, I'm afraid it's unlikely. Oh... by the way, Brother Su, I heard you're planning to open a private equity company, is that true?"
"That's right,"
Su Yi nodded with a smile.
"Excellent!"
Lu Houde's eyes lit up.
"I'm currently worried about not having a place to invest the company's backlog of funds. If you open a private equity firm, investing in the fund products you manage would be perfect."
"I am naturally very grateful that Mr. Lu is willing to trust me,"
Su Yi said.
"However, the private equity fund product I plan to launch is a closed-end private equity fund product. Once subscribed, there is only one redemption window period within a year, so I only accept long-term investment funds.
If Mr. Lu's company's accumulated funds have other uses in the short to medium term, especially within a year, then it might not be suitable for investing in a closed-end fund product."
"A one-year lock-up period..."
Lu Houde pondered for a moment and said,
"No problem!"
"When can we subscribe to Brother Su's private equity fund product?"
Deng Youwei hastily asked,
"I'll subscribe for some fund shares too when the time comes."
Su Yi replied,
"It will probably be a while. Don't worry, I'll definitely inform everyone when the time comes."
"Old Lei, who is this young man..."
As the group spoke, a middle-aged man at the same table glanced at Su Yi several times and asked Lei Kaishan.
Lei Kaishan chuckled and quickly introduced Su Yi's identity to the few people at the table who didn't know him.
Among them, a man who was interested in stock investing and familiar with Modu's financial circles, upon hearing that Su Yi was the floor trader for the 'Financial Street Fuxing Road' speculative capital account, who had moved freely in the stock market and created various profit myths, immediately showed a rather excited expression on his face.
"Hello, Mr. Su... it's a pleasure to meet you."
The other party proactively extended a hand to Su Yi and introduced himself,
"I usually like to dabble in stocks as well; I didn't expect to meet a master of stock market investing here today."
Su Yi shook the other's hand and said with a smile,
"Mr. Hu, you flatter me. I'm just a newcomer to the financial trading market who entered not long ago, far from being any kind of master. It's just that during my previous work and in my spare time, I enjoyed summarizing the trading techniques and experiences of my predecessors, which is how I can barely manage to earn a little money and make a living in the financial market."
"Mr. Su is truly too humble,"
Mr. Hu said.
"In my opinion, Mr. Su is already a top market expert in stock investment and speculation. Oh... by the way, I just heard you mention private equity matters. I wonder what conditions are required to subscribe to Mr. Su's company's fund products?"
"The usual private equity subscription conditions will suffice,"
Su Yi said.
"Alright then,"
Mr. Hu said, handing his business card to Su Yi.
"Later, when Mr. Su's company opens and the fund products are available for subscription, I hope Mr. Su can notify me as soon as possible. Although I don't have a lot of liquid funds to invest, subscribing for an amount of ten to twenty million yuan is still manageable."
"Great!"
Su Yi took the business card, naturally happy to have attracted another major client.
After they became familiar with each other...
Mr. Hu quickly began asking Su Yi for advice on some stock investment issues.
At the same time, Mr. Lei, combining current domestic and international macroeconomic trends, also discussed commercial real estate development and property market price trends with Su Yi.
As the conversation deepened and time passed.
Just before the banquet officially began, a figure quite familiar to Su Yi suddenly walked belatedly into the banquet hall from outside, entering his field of vision.
"Oh... why is she here?"
Su Yi noticed Fang Wanqing walking into the banquet hall, radiant and captivating everyone, and thought to himself in surprise.
Fang Wanqing faintly scanned the guests in the banquet hall, noticing Su Yi prominently seated, and a hint of surprise was clearly visible in her eyes as well.
"Wanqing..."
Just as Su Yi was momentarily dazed, a beautiful middle-aged woman had already linked arms with Fang Wanqing.
The two walked quite intimately towards the table where Old Master Lin was seated.
Su Yi knew that the beautiful middle-aged woman holding Fang Wanqing's hand was Lin Minghui's wife.
"Brother Su..."
Noticing Su Yi's daze, Deng Youwei, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but call out to him.
After Su Yi snapped back to attention, Deng Youwei chuckled softly,
"That's Old Lin's niece, the apple of Old Fang's eye. You... you haven't taken a fancy to that young lady, have you?"
"Mr. Lin's niece?"
Su Yi felt his thoughts short-circuit.
"Isn't she Mr. Fang's niece?"
"It seems you two have met before,"
Deng Youwei's smile instantly turned a bit peculiar.
Su Yi lightly coughed and said,
"Last time, I was a guest at Mr. Qiu's house and met Mr. Fang's family, so... we met once back then."
"No wonder,"
Deng Youwei said.
"Mr. Fang is her second uncle, and Old Lin, well, he's her paternal aunt's husband."
"Good heavens..."
Su Yi clicked his tongue to himself.
"This girl has a complicated background. If you've taken a fancy to her..."
Deng Youwei whispered a reminder,
"it's going to take a lot of effort. But, if you can really marry her, it will certainly be a huge help for your future development. At the very least, she can give you more than ten times the useful connections in official and business circles within the country."
"Is that so?"
Su Yi said noncommittally.
Deng Youwei chuckled and said,
"Don't disbelieve it. Here in Modu, there are quite a few excellent young people secretly interested in this girl. It's just that currently, I haven't heard of anyone winning her favor, and Old Fang also never seems to arrange anything.
I see that you two are close in age and have already met. Moreover, both Old Fang and Old Lin have a good impression of you. Logically speaking, as long as you're a bit proactive, there should still be some opportunities."
"What are you thinking?"
Su Yi replied,
"I really don't have any such thoughts."
Hearing Su Yi's words, Deng Youwei couldn't help but sigh lightly and said,
"That's a real pity. I truly think you should seize this opportunity."
"What opportunity?"
Lu Houde asked in bewilderment.
"Uh, nothing?"
Deng Youwei coughed and quickly changed the subject, turning his gaze to Lei Kaishan and saying,
"Old Lei, I heard that your 'Jingcheng Holdings' acquired another piece of land in the core area and plans to invest tens of billions in a project. Is that true? How do you plan to position this project in the future? If it has prospects, I'd like to hoard some commercial properties in your project as well."
"That's right,"
Lei Kaishan said.
"But the project hasn't started construction yet. Once it's almost built and the commercial property sales prices are set, how about I give you an internal price?"
"Sounds good!"
Deng Youwei said happily.
"You have to keep your word this time."
Lei Kaishan chuckled and said,
"When have I ever not kept my word?"
"By the way, Old Lei, how's your company's listing progress coming along?"
As Deng Youwei changed the subject, Lu Houde also asked,
"Can we still subscribe to your company's additional shares now?"
Lei Kaishan said,
"The group has already submitted the review materials to the CSRC and is in the queue. If all goes well, the listing should be completed by the first half of next year. As for the current additional shares, apart from those subscribed internally by the group, they have basically been absorbed by the sponsoring institutions and other PE institutions. So... Old Lu, regarding your desire to subscribe to our group's additional shares, I really can't help you."
"No problem,"
Lu Houde said.
"Since there are no shares left, then never mind."
Lei Kaishan thought for a moment and said,
"If you have strong confidence in our group's future development, you can buy directly on the secondary market for Hong Kong stocks at this time."
"Forget buying on the secondary market,"
Lu Houde said.
"Without the premium from the primary to secondary market, and just speculating on the secondary market alone, I might as well directly hand the funds over to Brother Su to manage.
After all, when it comes to investment and stock trading abilities in the secondary market, the three of us, plus Old Lin, even if we're all tied together, probably don't even amount to a fraction of Brother Su's investment capability."
"And also, Old Lei..."
Deng Youwei paused and whispered,
"How come I recently heard that your group's commercial real estate development business segment is preparing to change its leader?"
Hearing Deng Youwei mention this, Lei Kaishan's brows furrowed slightly, and his expression was clearly not very good.
He didn't answer directly, but instead turned his gaze to Su Yi and said,
"Brother Su, in a while, I might need your help. At that time... I hope you'll extend a helping hand out of our friendship."
"Is Senior experiencing some difficulties?"
Su Yi asked in surprise, hearing his words.
Lei Kaishan paused for a moment and said,
"It's still uncertain at the moment."
"Alright, no problem,"
Su Yi replied with a smile, recalling that his impression of Lei Kaishan was quite good.
"Since Senior has said so, as long as it's within my capability, I will definitely help. And... I believe not only will I help, but friends like Mr. Deng, Mr. Lu, and Mr. Lin won't stand idly by either."
"Exactly,"
Deng Youwei chuckled.
"Old Lei and I have been friends for at least ten years."
Lu Houde also said at this moment,
"Old Lei, rest assured. If you have any difficulties, I'll provide money if needed, or people if needed, without a second thought."
"With friends like you, I feel reassured,"
Lei Kaishan said with a smile.
He never specified what the matter was, and everyone, seeing he was unwilling to disclose, didn't press further, merely chatting about various topics from all corners of the country.
Afterwards, as time passed minute by minute.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Su Yi stood up to bid farewell to Lin Minghui and Old Master Lin.
"Su... Su Yi, can I invite you for a cup of coffee?"
As Su Yi was bidding farewell to the Lin family, Fang Wanqing, who had also been about to leave, proactively spoke up.
Su Yi looked at her, instinctively feeling she had something to ask him.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded slightly.
Afterwards, the two left the hotel together and found a coffee shop with a pleasant atmosphere.
During the afternoon break, there weren't many people in the coffee shop.
The two found a window seat and sat down.
Immediately after, Fang Wanqing proactively ordered two coffees, as well as snacks like desserts and fruit.
"Miss Fang, what did you want to talk about? You can tell me now, can't you?"
Su Yi watched her diligently push the ordered coffee and fruit platter towards him, and couldn't help but say with a smile.
Fang Wanqing felt a little embarrassed under his gaze, but since she had asked him out, she didn't feign shyness, and said with a slight smile,
"Mainly, I've come across an investment project that I'm not very sure about, and I'd like to ask for your opinion to help me analyze its investment risks and potential."
"What project?"
Su Yi asked.
"I didn't have time to bring the investment project plan today,"
Fang Wanqing said.
"But I have an electronic version of the plan that my friend sent me on my phone; I'll send it to you to take a look."
(End of chapter)